Committee to chart ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ agenda inaugurated

A 14-member charter committee has been inaugurated by President Nana Akufo-Addo to give substance to the government’s ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ agenda.

The committee has been tasked by the President to “ set out a charter which will present the true meaning, purpose and also the calendar of implementation that will allow the country to reach her goal.”

The committee, chaired by Senior Minister Yaw Osafo Marfo, was inaugurated on Wednesday, 13th June, 2018 at the Jubilee House.

Nana Akufo-Addo stated that once the charter is developed, it “will be subjected to the scrutiny of Parliament, so that it becomes a policy document that will guide the actions of government, as well as the actions of the various stakeholders in our society.”

The members of Committee drawn from varying sectors of the governance structure also include the Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta; Minister for Employment and Labour Relations, Ignatius Baffour Awuah, MP; Minister for Planning, Prof. Gyan Baffour, MP; and the Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Hajia Alima Mahama, MP.

The rest are drawn from the Trades Union Congress, the Private Enterprise Foundation, the Ghana National Association of Teachers, as well as the Association of Ghana industries.

Notwithstanding this composition, the President charged the committee to, in the course of their deliberations, co-opt other relevant stakeholders into the deliberations of the committee.

He said “It cannot be right that sixty years after Kwame Nkrumah hoisted the flag at the old polo grounds, the budgets of our country are still dependent on external assistance largely because we have not been able to develop our economy to an extent that we are unable fund things by ourselves.”

The President continued, “We should be in a position to fund our own activities, then, we will have control of ourselves.”

He stressed that “for the sake of dignity and pride, as a country, as a people, we need stand up for ourselves and say that we are looking up to ourselves. This is important for our self-esteem.”

President Akufo-Addo was hopeful that the charter will be drawn in such a way that all the estates and social groupings of Ghana will be able to find resonance from it, “and that it will become a mobilizing instrument to be able to develop Ghana.”